A Latina bildungsroman, Spit and Passion chronicles Road's maturation and recognition of her queerness through her relation to and love of Green Day—yes, Green Day, who Road's esteems as the cultural icon that rendered all those fuzzy ideas about feeling different into loud, punk, explicit form. Green Day gave her knowledge, gave her understanding, and therefore gave her solace, especially as a queer 13-year old growing up in a Cuban-American family in Miami in the early '90s.

This graphic memoir, clearly inspired by predecessors like Bechdel's erudite, theoretical memoir series (Fun Home and Are You My Mother?) and Daphne's Gottlieb's brazen Hothead Paisan Homocidal Lesbian Terrorist, is a fast and fun read and will totally take you back to the '90s...Ren&Stimpy included.

Road's previous work includes the graphic memoir Bad Habit (2008) and the graphic novel Indestructible (2006). This year she has been on tour with Sister Spit and with her band, The Homewreckers. You can catch her in Miami later this week for an event promotion of Spit and Passion (details below).